


Transparent Water (Please See Through Me)

by FayeValentine



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - College/University, Attempt at Humor, Cute Ending, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Jongin is older by 5 yrs, Love Confessions, M/M, Oblivious Jongin, Romance, Sehun is a dork, Sehun's hyungs are mean, Student Sehun, Tutor Jongin, cute idiots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-18
Updated: 2017-09-01
Packaged: 2018-12-03 14:01:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 19,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11533728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FayeValentine/pseuds/FayeValentine
Summary: Jongin has been Sehun’s Korean language tutor since high school, unfortunately no matter what he does, the oblivious man only sees him as a student, not a man actively trying to catch his romantic interest.





	1. Chapter One

 

**Transparent Water (Please See Through Me)**

  
**Summary: Jongin has been Sehun’s Korean language tutor since high school, unfortunately no matter what he does, the oblivious man only sees him as a student, not a man actively trying to catch his romantic interest.**

  
**Pairing: SeKai, Minor KaiSoo**

  
**Notes: I watched Seven First Kisses. Huge mistake, the female lead is like an adorable, cute, puppy version of BTS’s J-Hope and Kai had a whole ten minute episode. He wore skinny jeans and was lookin so fine my mind created _this_ based off of _that._**

  
**Warnings: Age Gap (I have a thing for them ;) Oblivious!Jongin College!AU mentioned Fem!Big Bang Kim!Bros**

  
**Dumb pinch of angst, attempt at massive fluff nuke**

 

 

 

  
Sehun was _frustrated_. It was not something strange to him, considering he was a virile young man with a pulse and a stupidly oblivious tutor. Really, when he laid eyes upon Jongin in high school, he should have known that the man was really naïve based on his soft sweater and his thick frame glasses, and alarm bells _definitely_ should have gone off in his head when his senior smiled at him and introduced himself with a bow deeper than what Sehun would have expected from someone five years older than him.

  
_“Hello! I’m Jongin, I’ll be your new Korean tutor!”_

  
Ever since he heard Jongin’s velvety and saccharine sweet voice, he’d been hooked and hopelessly pulled along by Jongin’s charm. All through high school, Sehun had never given anyone the time of day aside from his childhood friends and Jongin. As a result, lessons with his cute tutor were religiously followed, he was never late and he even showed up for tutoring when he was sick, getting scolded and looked after by Jongin each time. Once, Sehun had pretended to be sick for a week longer than he was just so that he could get his tutor to give him a lap pillow and a head massage. The older man was all too willing to help and Sehun felt just a _tiny spec_ of guilt. Mostly he reveled in having Jongin’s entire attention focused on him and he loved pretending to fall into a deep sleep, using that as an excuse to snuggle into Jongin’s soft thighs. Unfortunately Jongin never caught on to all the sneaky stuff he did in the hopes that he’d take a hint and let Sehun kiss him.

  
So while Jongin remained oblivious, his friends, Baekhyun and Chanyeol, loved to make fun of Sehun when he complained about _dumb cuties_. Unfortunately, now was such a time.

  
“I swear Chanyeol, he was blushing the entire time Jongin was on stage!” Baekhyun practically yelled in the giant’s ear as soon as he sat down, his poor lunch discarded and left neglected on the table. “It was so cute, Sehunnie was gushing to his crush like some tween girl and Jongin just smiled and thanked him!”

  
Sehun fumed in his seat, stabbing his rice with his chopsticks and stirring it angrily. Baekhyun and Chanyeol ignored him, but the taller of the two sent Sehun an amused smirk before he began a petty contest with Baekhyun. Said competition consisted of swapping Sehun’s most embarrassing moments and blunders while in the presence of Jongin. It was a favorite pastime of the duo and Sehun grit his teeth each time they forked over cash to the winner after an altercation.

  
“Really? That’s not half as bad as what he did the day before.” Chanyeol said smugly, stuffing a dumpling in his mouth and somehow managing to smear red chili sauce on the corner of his mouth. It was a revolting and sad view to be honest, but the mere sight of it triggered a memory of Jongin doing the same thing, only when he licked his lips to clean them he somehow looked sexy _and_ obscene.

  
“So?” Baekhyun pretended to huff, crossing his arms and tilting his slight frame away from Chanyeol. However both Sehun and the giant could tell that he was nearly bursting at the seams with curiosity.

  
“Alright,” Chanyeol began in a stage whisper, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand before he placed a large palm over Baekhyun’s shoulder. “See what had happened was—”

 

_You spin my head right round, right round~!_

 

Chanyeol was interrupted by the loud blaring of someone’s ringtone.

 

_When you go down, when you go down, down~!_

 

Sehun felt a faint buzzing in his pocket and he cursed as he scrambled for his phone, hating Baekhyun even more for changing the ringtone to his phone while he wasn’t paying attention. Said culprit merely giggled and watched Sehun flounder for his phone before he actually pulled it out and quickly swiped the screen, not bothering to check who was calling.

  
“What?” He bit out curtly over the line, feeling a telling heat flare up in his cheeks from the stares his blaring phone received in the cafeteria.

  
_“…Uhm is this Sehun?”_ The timid voice asked as Sehun mentally cursed and immediately changed his tone.

  
“Oh Jongin, sorry about that, I was in the middle of something…” He trailed off and then awkwardly cleared his throat, trying to ignore the pair of hyenas making kissy faces and rude gestures at him.

  
_“Sorry! I’ll call back later, I didn’t want to bother you—”_

  
“No no! It’s fine, I was just finishing up anyway.” Sehun interrupted hastily.

  
_“Oh good, I kind of wanted to ask if we could meet today for tutoring at around six? I have something to do later this week so I can’t meet you at the usual time tomorrow.”_ Jongin said and he sounded a little unsure. Sehun could easily imagine his tutor’s worried expression with his furrowed eyebrows and hastily bitten red lips.

  
Clearing his throat, Sehun tried to sound as normal as possible, though he failed when Baekhyun squeaked out an imitation of the way his voice cracked. “Y-yeah, yes! I can definitely do that. Yes.” Chanyeol cackled and Sehun wished he could shove them both off the bench.

  
_“Oh thank goodness. I was worried you might be angry with me for changing the usual schedule.”_ Jongin’s relieved laughter sounded over the phone and all thoughts of searching for new friends were forgotten as Sehun smiled and pictured the way Jongin’s eyes might be crinkling with his bright smile. He should be at least a little embarrassed at how easy it was to conjure up Jongin’s pretty face in his mind, but he spent so much time thinking about him and staring at him when his tutor wasn’t looking that it would be hard for Sehun to _not_ see him every time his mind wandered.

  
A small wadded up gum wrapper smacked Sehun in the middle of the forehead and he merely glared and shot Baekhyun the finger before he turned his attention back to the phone. “I could never be angry with you hyung. And with how you’ve been putting up with my bad grammar it’s the least I could do to repay you.”

  
Jongin laughed more genuinely this time and Sehun could almost feel his slim hands slapping his shoulder lightly. _“As if! You took to the language like a fish to water. I’m surprised you still insist on needing my help.”_

  
Gulping, Sehun hastily tried to think up something to say. He couldn’t possibly tell Jongin that he was already fluent in the language, and that the only reason he was still making deliberate mistakes on his practice papers was so that he could have a reasonable excuse to see Jongin every Tuesday and Thursday.

  
“W-well hyung, you know I still have a lisp.” At this admission, Baekhyun and Chanyeol perked up in interest, almost as if they could sense new blackmail/teasing material.

  
_“Hmmm, that’s true.”_ Jongin hummed in agreement, then his tone dropped into something mischievous. _“I still haven’t been able to get you to introduce yourself without sounding like a kid with no more baby teeth.”_

  
Sehun whined. “Hyung! I’m not a kid!”

  
Jongin’s amused giggle was bright and carefree. _“I’m just joking, Sehunnie! I think it’s cute, so maybe I haven’t been trying too hard to help your pronunciation.”_

  
Sehun mocked gasped in offense. “I can’t believe my own hyung, my Jongin, would deliberately sabotage me.”

  
_“Guilty as charged.”_ Jongin replied easily, the grin he wore evident in his voice.

  
Sehun opened his mouth to say something back, but the sound of someone else’s voice on Jongin’s end of the line interrupted. The sound of shuffling and slight crackles reached Sehun’s ears along with some faint mumbling, and he frowned.

  
_“Ah sorry Sehunnie, I have to go now. I’ll see you later!”_ Jongin said quickly, his rushed tone leaving no room for Sehun to say goodbye before the line went dead and the dial tone beeped obnoxiously in Sehun’s ear. Perplexed at being hung up on, Sehun put his phone back to sleep and slipped the device back into his pocket.

  
“ _She_ hun, why so you look like someone pissed in your water?” Baekhyun asked, his amused tone hiding the concern in his eyes.

  
Chanyeol snorted at his side. “Actually, he looks like someone shoved a pineapple up his—”

  
Sehun promptly threw a sticky dumpling at Chanyeol and watched as the food stuck to his cheek and slowly slid down his surprised face before it plopped onto the tabletop with a wet splat.

  
Baekhyun immediately began laughing and he pulled out his phone to take a picture, however he was stopped when Chanyeol wiped the sticky dumpling sauce off his face and smeared it across Baekhyun’s forehead instead. The petite male shrieked and a food fight was started and Sehun barely managed to make it out of the cafeteria with only his clothes bearing most of the messy evidence. Unfortunately he had to sit through a near two hour lecture in class positively reeking of soy sauce.

 

 

☆✯☆

 

 

When the evening drew closer and the bright heat and energy of the afternoon faded away, Sehun found himself pacing in front of the main entrance to the sports hall of his college. Despite being a freshman, he often found himself a regular among all the older groups of students. It never failed to remind him of just how young he was, even if he felt that he was much more mature than some of his stupider hyungs.

  
“Oh _Hunnie_ , you waited for me, did you miss me that much?” Case number one of the failed age to wisdom ratio, Chanyeol, shouted as he exited the gym. His sweaty brown hair was plastered to his forehead, for once flattening the unruly curly locks and making his ears appear even larger. His heavy bag was slung over one shoulder, his basketball jersey doing nothing to hide his pride and joy, his biceps.

  
Scowling at the older man, Sehun ducked out of his attempted hug and settled for jabbing him in the side. “I was forced to wait because you took the keys this morning you prick.” Technically the beat up little red car was Chanyeol’s, but he lost a bet while drinking and now Sehun commandeered the thing whenever he felt like it.

  
Unperturbed, Chanyeol shook his head like a dog and flecks of sweat splattered in an arc around him. Disgusted, Sehun made a face and began walking back toward the student parking lot. “Hey wait! Sehunnie, c’mon don’t be mad!” Chanyeol shouted and he used his slightly longer legs to rush to Sehun’s side. The younger man frowned at the action and sped up some more until he was practically speed walking to the parking lot, he didn’t really feel like being too close to Chanyeol right after an hour long practice of basketball, not to mention while the man didn’t bother showering after sweating up a rainstorm.

  
“I’m not mad, it’s just getting late and I have to meet Jongin by six.” Sehun replied a bit breathlessly once they reached the red car, Chanyeol’s suggestive brow wag and whistle doing nothing to help endear him to the dumb older male.

  
“I see how it is,” Chanyeol hummed, unlocking the doors and sliding into the driver’s seat before Sehun could protest. “You just wanna rush out to see your _new thang._ ”

  
“What the hell are you talking about?” Sehun asked in irritation, sliding into the passenger’s seat after kicking aside a few empty bottles and various heaps of takeout trash. “Ugh, you’re such a pig. How can you sit in your own sweat and trash? I’m surprised this metal heap doesn’t smell like a farm.”

  
“Hey, you can insult me all you want grumpy cat, but this ‘metal heap’ deserves respect.” Chanyeol said, patting the dashboard of the car and cooing at the car. “And when I have to chauffer you around through the rain and snow, I don’t hear you complaining about this red beauty.”

  
Sehun rolled his eyes but he didn’t say anything more as Chanyeol pulled out of the parking lot and entered the early evening traffic. Looking out the window, he could see the city speed by, tall buildings eventually fading into less bustling business areas and finally reaching a calm neighborhood. Jongin had a pretty house in the area, having saved up and been frugal in college in order to afford the down payment for the thing. After he finished up the last of his teaching degree in college, Jongin had gotten a new job at a local school and Sehun remembered how excited he was while helping him move into his dream home.

  
“-Sehun, hey, anybody home?” Chanyeol whistled lowly under his breath, snapping his fingers in front of Sehun’s zoned out face.

  
Immediately reacting, Sehun slapped away Chanyeol’s hand and looked around. “Were you a damn fly in your past life? I swear you’re as annoying as one.”

  
Pouting, Chanyeol cradled his wounded hand to his chest, “The things I do for my ungrateful dongsaeng. I was just trying to make sure you hadn’t rendered yourself completely retarded at this scene.”

  
Blinking, Sehun looked at Chanyeol, trying to ignore the need to splash the man in soapy water because his sweat crusted hair was bugging him. “What scene?”

  
Chanyeol’s expression was a cross between excitement and concern as he pointed out the passenger side window of the car, turning around, Sehun felt his limbs freeze in shock.

  
He saw the familiar sight of Jongin’s smile and his warm eyes, but what caught his attention was the fact that he was looking at his face over someone’s shoulder, someone in a black t-shirt and jeans far tighter than any he had seen on any straight man before, caught in a hug.

  
“Aaanddd _that’s_ the face I was expecting.” Chanyeol said but his voice sounded so distant compared the pounding rush of blood echoing in Sehun’s ears. The sight of the two embracing figures was doing wonders for making his heart thrash in woes of pain in his chest, while his mind scrambled to comprehend what he was seeing, and trying to rationalize it at the same time.

  
_‘Jongin hyung is hugging someone? Wait, why is that a bad thing, it’s not like we’re anything…yet at least… but why are they so close!? Who is he, a boyfriend? How come I’ve never seen him before!?’_

  
While he remained still, Jongin eventually pulled back from the hug to smile at the man he was hugging, and the _look_ on his face. It was something Sehun had never really seen before, it was just so _fond_ and _endeared_. It also didn’t help his frantic suspicion about the unknown guy when Jongin looked at him so intently, his eyes brightening as he laughed and swatted at the man’s shoulder.

  
“Have you ever noticed that Jongin looks a little like dance major guy, Taemin, when he laughs?” Chanyeol butted in and Sehun found himself looking at him with what was probably a strange glint in his eyes.

  
“I see _absolutely no_ similarities. Now unless you want to keep your tongue, I suggest you shut up and tell me what you know about this-” he gestured behind himself to the unfamiliar figure standing with Jongin, “- _Worm_.”

  
Chanyeol fell silent and he gulped a bit as he stared wide eyed at the oblivious pair out the window. It was no secret that after Baekhyun, Chanyeol knew everyone on and off their humble college campus. But his knowledge only extended so far and the man Jongin was just hugging on was nowhere within his mental lineup of possible suspects. Shaking his head and interrupting his stare down with the back of the guy’s head, Chanyeol spoke, “Sorry, never seen the dude in my life.”

  
Sehun frowned deeply as he continued to stare out the window, only to startle when Jongin looked up and caught his eyes through Chanyeol’s untinted windows. Oblivious to his and Chanyeol’s panic, Jongin smiled and waved, catching the attention of the man standing in front of him.

  
Jongin’s mouth moved and he could hear the crystal clear call of his name. “ _Sehunnie_!”

  
The name seemed to catch the other man’s attention and he turned around. He had surprisingly big eyes, framed by dark lashes and thick eyebrows. He looked innocent, clashing with his bad boy aura. Of course that was only until Sehun’s eyes fell on the knowing smirk gracing his thick lips. Meeting Sehun’s eyes, the man turned back to face Jongin and he must have said something to the tutor because a red blush blossomed on Jongin’s face and he ducked away from the wide-eyed guy bashfully.

  
Feeling something akin to anger simmer within his chest, Sehun abruptly opened the car door and got out, slamming the door shut to have a surprised Chanyeol shout at him. Ignoring him, Sehun plastered his usual blank expression on his face as he stepped up the stone path cutting through the front lawn. He was intent on reaching Jongin and starting their tutoring session, and maybe a small part of him also wanted to chase the guy away by diverting Jongin’s attention to himself.

  
“Hey hyung, sorry I’m a little late.” Sehun said easily, not knowing where his slight smile came from when he felt like screeching and kicking breakable shit on the inside. “I meant to be here sooner, but Chanyeol hyung had practice.”

  
Jongin waved him off, “Oh no worries, I was just finishing reminiscing with Kyungsoo.” He gestured to the man standing before him.

  
Sehun titled his head in acknowledgement at the man, but aside from a frosty look in his direction, Sehun deliberately faced Jongin once again. “Can we get started now? I have some stuff I need to finish before tomorrow.” Sehun lied. He had absolutely nothing but time on his hands since he liked to finish all his assignments as soon as possible. Usually he finished his classwork before he got home, having made a habit of taking advantage of his long lunch and study period.

  
Blinking, Jongin smiled a bit sheepishly. “A-ah right, we should hurry then.” And he barely had time to wave Kyungsoo bye and promise to meet up again before Sehun was brushing past them both and entering Jongin’s open home, settling himself in the kitchen and waiting for his tutor to arrive.

  
Jongin’s home was a modest size, big enough for company but just small enough to be cozy. And with the faint warm neutral tones mixed with the scent of Jongin, it was a favorite place of Sehun’s and he wished he could live there as well. But sharing a home with Jongin while discreetly trying to reveal his deeper intentions to a very dense Jongin didn’t sound like something that would be good for Sehun’s sanity. With this luck, Jongin would probably sleep in the nude or walk around in skimpy pajamas, unaware of Sehun’s inner pervert.

  
“Ah, sorry about the mess.” Jongin called out, the sound of the door shutting before he popped up at the open entrance of the kitchen. Sehun blinked and then looked around, finally noticing that Jongin had numerous papers scattered on the counter, the kitchen table, and the coffee table within the living room.

  
“I don’t mind hyung.” Sehun placated. “Are you working on something? We can always reschedule the lesson if you’re busy…” He trailed off, feeling the guilt of unnecessarily monopolizing Jongin’s time plaguing him. He didn’t notice it too much earlier, but Jongin looked a little worn around the edges, his hair was just on the tired side of messy fuzz, his lids somewhat dropping over his heavy brown eyes and faint shadows forming under them.

  
Shaking his head, Jongin smoothed down his hair and rolled up the sleeves of his soft wine colored shirt to his elbows. “I’m fine. I just have some projects I’m planning for the students at my school, and Junmyeon hyung has asked me to help with grading and editing some of the thesis papers his students turned in.” Jongin’s older brother was a lecturer at the college and Sehun remembered meeting the man from time to time, his incessant dad jokes making him famous around the campus as someone endearingly awkward and simultaneously levelheaded and admirable. Jongin had other bothers as well, and Sehun had a chance to meet them all before two of them shipped off to study in China together. Sehun supposed it was a Kim thing for all of them to have good looks and charm that endeared anyone to them.

  
Shaking away his thoughts, Sehun hummed in agreement, though he was still a little unconvinced that they shouldn’t call off the evening so Jongin could catch up on some much needed sleep.

  
Jongin walked into the kitchen and began clearing a space for them on the table, picking the two chairs opposite each other. As he moved he absently patted Sehun on the shoulder, the brush of his fingertips lightly grazing the base of Sehun’s neck and making pleasant tingles surround the area. Honestly, the college freshman was surprised that he ever had enough presence of mind to learn anything Jongin taught him, especially since his tutor had a habit of initiating innocent physical contact.

  
“Okay, I don’t have any Hangeul worksheets prepared today…” Jongin trailed off, his hand picking up the folded pair of reading glasses hanging off the neckline of his shirt and putting them on. “We’ll just have a few everyday conversations in Korean.”

  
Sehun nodded along, familiar with the simple exercise. When he was starting out on learning pronunciation, Jongin would speak to him in the language and they often found themselves playing out store clerk and customer scenarios.

  
“I’ll be a pet store owner this time, and you are going to be the inquiring customer.” Jongin decided. Once Sehun nodded, Jongin took a breath and plastered a friendly smile on his face.

  
_“Hello sir, welcome to_ P-paw Paw.” Jongin stuttered over the store name in adorable Korean accented English and an embarrassed flush crossed his cheeks because he couldn’t think of anything better. Sehun resisted the urge to laugh and coo, hearing the made up name coming from a flustered Jongin was beyond cute.

  
“ _How may I help you today?_ ” Jongin continued on, trying to get over his little blunder.

  
Sehun found himself trying to clear away his smile, though based on his amused tone and the look Jongin shot him, he wasn’t completely successful. “ _I was just wondering what pets are available for adoption today.”_

  
Falling into the play world, Jongin brightened and began talking a little more enthusiastically, his love for animals obviously shining through. “ _We have a lot of animals to choose from! There were a litter of puppies born a little over a month ago, and some of the kittens have been weaned off milk and are now eating hard food.”_

  
Sehun took in the light in Jongin’s eyes and the happy smile on his face as he thought about the small animals. Sometimes he wondered how hard it was on Jongin to decide between teaching children or becoming a vet and taking care of animals. He loved both and Jongin’s kind heart was another reason Sehun found himself hopelessly caught up within the older man’s innocent spell.

  
_“I’m looking for something other than a dog or a cat. Is there any other pet you have here?”_ Sehun replied easily, his mind running back to the hamster he had in middle school, named Hamtaro after the orange and white furred hero of a Japanese cartoon he used to be obsessed with.

  
Jongin thought about it for a while, tilting his head to the side and pressing a finger to his lips in pensiveness. “ _Well, we have a few song birds, a ferret, and a couple of bunnies here.”_ Jongin then met Sehun’s eyes and the sweet smile on his lips made Sehun’s heart thump in his chest. _“I’d suggest the bunny, it’s really small and its fur is so soft.”_ He then used his hands to outline a small nose, long ears, and a twitching tail before he pantomimed drawing a circle around his left eye. _“It even has a spot right here!”_

  
The simple action was so adorable Sehun was tempted to squish his tutor in a hug, but he restrained himself with a flustered cough, his eyes darting away and a faint dusting of pink covering his cheeks.

  
_“I’ll take your word for it then, I’ll take home the bunny.”_

  
‘ _And please let me take you home too!!_ ’ Sehun mentally added, his own common sense berating himself for the cheesy line as Jongin’s response filtered through one ear and out the other. He was so far gone for his tutor, he didn’t know if he would ever recover if Jongin chose to love someone other than him.

 

 

☆✯☆

 

 

“So what you’re saying is,” Baekhyun began, shifting until the pillow he shoved under his ass was flat enough for him to sit comfortably. “That some older guy with a six pack, muscled arms, dark hair, and big eyes is after Jongin?”

  
Sehun scowled and plucked at a loose thread on his worn t-shirt. “I didn’t say anything about his stupid _muscles_ ,” He muttered spitefully.

  
Baekhyun raised an eyebrow at him and Chanyeol chose that moment to pop into the room, long arms full of bags of chips, cookies, kimchi leftovers, and assorted ice cream bars. “You might only have eyes for Jongin, and I only have eyes for Jiyong noona, but that guy definitely had some mean guns. He’s got nothin’ on me though—” Sehun narrowed his eyes and he kicked out at Chanyeol’s shin spitefully. The giant for once didn’t fall for the attack, but when he smirked and hooted triumphantly, he tripped and dropped everything onto the floor in a heap.

  
Baekhyun screeched about lost cookies and he dived to gather the snacks in his arms, purposely stepping on Chanyeol while he was down as he gently placed the food on the fluffiest part of the bed. Sehun didn’t waste an opportunity to kick Chanyeol in the ribs as he moved across the room and set up camp right next to the pile of snacks his hyungs so graciously offered.

  
“Anyway, you think Jongin’s interested in him?” Sehun asked, ripping open a bag of something that looked like chocolate covered potato chips.

  
Baekhyun sighed and he grabbed the bag from Sehun’s hands, reaching into the foil packaging and shoving a handful in his mouth after. “ _Ymer screjdf._ ”

  
“What?”

  
Chanyeol dramatically rose up from the floor like Dracula with his arms crossed across his chest. Sehun wished he could kick him back down, bury him in garlic, douse him in holy water, and then dump him outside during the sunrise before he staked him.

  
“He said ‘ _you’re screwed.’_ ” Chanyeol translated, stealing the next bag of chips Sehun picked out before he could even open it this time. “And I think it’s a unanimous decision. You have lost Jongin forever, mourn your loss and hope the next ass you chase after is half as glorious as Kim Kai’s booty—”

  
“Yah! Shut it giant!” Sehun hissed, slapping Chanyeol harshly on the back of the head. He knew the bastard wasn’t just staring at that ‘thread of lint’ on the back of Jongin’s jeans when he introduced them to one another.

  
Baekhyun nodded sagely and he placed a calming hand on Sehun’s shoulder. “Young grasshopper, follow the teachings of Master Byun and you will no longer need your right hand.”

  
“Fuck off!” Sehun scowled and he shoved Baekhyun away from his body. He proceeded to wipe his hands on his shoulders in an attempt to clean the idiocy away.

  
Undeterred, Baekhyun went back to stuffing his face with the abomination of all fattening snack foods: Chocolate dipped and double fried potato chips. “Honestly Sehun, if nice biceps are all you have to worry about, then you’ll be fine. Jongin will still be oblivious to you and you’ll still be a limp dick.”

  
“Hey! I’m not a…whatever you just said.” Sehun protested weakly, slapping his hyung’s food out of his hand. It fell onto the bed in a melted chocolate heap and Sehun grimaced when he realized he would be cleaning food crumbs out of his own bed for a week.

  
“Wussypussysayswhat.” Chanyeol said rapidly.

  
“…What?” Sehun asked in confusion.

  
Chanyeol burst out laughing and he reached over Sehun to receive a high five from Baekhyun. However instead of giving in, Baekhyun sighed and shook his head at the giant in disappointment. “Your sense of humor is so low brow that I bet you still laugh at fart and dick jokes.”

  
“Hey! Those are the best ones!”

  
“Anyway,” Baekhyun said, using his small (Chanyeol snickered, “You know what they say about shoe size and-OW!”) foot to kick Chanyeol’s face away. “As I was saying, this new Kangasoo guy is no match for your oh-so-pretty resting bitch face.”

  
Sehun smiled hopefully, but then he recalled the way Kyungsoo and Jongin had laughed and smiled at one another just before the older man had left and Jongin welcomed him in to start the evening’s lessons. He slumped his shoulders and dug into a bag of what resembled a knock off of Oreos. He briefly longed for real ones with the sticky tape package that he didn’t have to take the effort to roll up and shove in the pantry in the hopes that they didn’t get stale. But with a mental shrug, Sehun shoved a cookie in his mouth and voiced his concerns.

  
“Baekhyun, he had this whole bad boy vibe going on, and he’s older than Jongin!” Sehun inhaled another cookie and chewed angrily, committing murder with his teeth on an innocent cookie was strangely unsatisfying. “And the bastard had a motorcycle, like what the fuck. And he even had the balls to talk about me in front of Jongin! And he has nice lips and a heart shaped smile!”

  
Baekhyun was looking a little dazed as he imagined this sexy hot Kangasoo guy. Maybe he escaped from a zoo with genetically modified animals or some shit like that.

  
“Damn, heart lips,” Chanyeol muttered with a pensive look on his face. “Hey, you know what? Forget about Jongin Sehun, you’ve given it your all.” He then patted Sehun on the back and handed him a strawberry ice cream bar in consolation. “It’s time to move on.”

  
Sehun growled and he would have lashed out at Chanyeol, but he had his hands full with the ice cream and cookies. He settled for hissing though.

  
“He’s right Sehun,” Baekhyun sighed. “Kangasoo has the daddy vibe going on and he has money, experience, a vehicle, nice lips, and tall sculpted body. You know that’s Jongin’s type, right?” While in high school, the trio had undergone extensive research into Jongin’s dating history and they found that all the guys Jongin seemed to be attracted to were of the tall, dark, and handsome variety. Sehun met only a few of those qualities, and he couldn’t ride a motorcycle or throw a straight punch worth his life.

  
Sehun felt his heart drop and he morosely hung his head, throwing his snacks to the side as he buried his face in his hands.

  
Chanyeol whistled, “Boy got game.” Baekhyun hummed in agreement.

  
‘ _Damn it!_ ’ Sehun thought with a pang of regret. He should have known that someone like Jongin would have at least some attention, but since they met three years ago the older male had never once showed an interest in a relationship. He had grown complacent, but now he wished that he’d said something, anything to Jongin to let him know how he felt.

  
“Wait.” Sehun finally said, realization dawning on him as he lifted his head from his hands. “Kyungsoo is not that tall.”

  
Baekhyun blinked at him before he leaned toward Chanyeol and whispered behind his hand. “I think he’s lost it, Kangasoo already pirated the booty.”

  
“Shut it Dumb and Dumber. I just realized something,” He smirked in glee. “Kyungsoo is smaller than Jongin, this means he’s off the list! I’m still in the running! Jongin is mine!” Despite the competition, Sehun was finally going to say something, after all, he had a more than favorable chance with Jongin, unlike that midget, Kyungsoo.

 

 

☆✯☆

 

 

The problem with saying you _will_ do something, and actually carrying out said declaration, was the simple fact that Sehun was a chicken.

  
Scratch that, if he were chicken, it would be way easier to catch Jongin’s attention and keep it.

  
For the entirety of the weekend, Sehun had been wondering how he should approach his tutor. He couldn’t use their Korean sessions as an excuse anymore since, well…he’d been doing that for years and it was too easy for him to fall into the lesson instead of flirting indirectly with his tutor. Not to mention the fact that unless Sehun spelled it out for him, Jongin would never understand that he wanted to be more than a friend and a younger student in his mind.

  
Sehun had originally planned to ask Jongin out for dinner and then maybe work up the courage to say something over desert, walk him home, and then steal a not so innocent kiss from the lips he’d been dreaming about since he was fifteen.

  
However, he underestimated just how busy the older man’s schedule was. He had no tutoring sessions to fall back on, and since Sehun couldn’t catch more than a quick lunch with Jongin, his romantic dinner plans were a fail.

  
This brings Sehun back to the present moment, with his face smashed into his pillow and his favorite demon hyung laughing at him.

  
“Oh my god, I can’t believe you’ve got the brush off _before_ you’ve even had the chance to confess!” Luhan was an exchange student who latched onto Sehun and dragged him all over campus, treating him as an errand boy. Chanyeol and Baekhyun absolutely worshipped the ground Luhan walked on because he got Sehun to somehow act like a proper dongsaeng, and after one particularly disastrous night out, Sehun did whatever he could to avoid meeting up with all three of his horrible older friends. They apparently had a thing for tag teaming against him and making his life miserable.

  
“Are you sure that Jongin even sees you as a man?” Luhan asked, and Sehun bristled, finally sitting up and throwing his pillow at his hyung’s face.

  
“Shut up! I don’t need to hear that from some Lolita doll!” He shouted and the muffled squawk Luhan let out at having his manliness questioned was almost as satisfying as having succeeded hitting him with the fluffy pillow projectile.

  
“How dare you! I’ll have you know that I can bench press two times your weight, you _dumb stick._ ”

  
Sehun gave the man a deadpan stare. “Lifting a toothpick with one finger doesn’t count as a bench press hyung.”

  
Luhan’s scowl was fierce, but before Sehun could gloat over his verbal victory, Luhan viciously kicked his side and watched as he yelped in pain fell off the bed onto the floor.

  
“God damn!” Sehun groaned, curling up on the floor like a shrimp and nursing his potentially broken ribs. Soccer was not a favorite sport of his, and with how often Luhan abused his carefully acquired leg muscles Sehun was sure that he would never warm up to the sport.

  
“That’s what you get for your cheek, you brat.” A smug face appeared overhead at the edge of the bed and Sehun had just enough presence of mind through his pain filled haze to glare at Luhan.

  
Whining, Sehun rolled onto his back and pouted at the ceiling. “Why does everyone treat me like a _kid_!?! I just came to you for some much needed pity and all you do is abuse me!”

  
Luhan’s mischievous expression died down to something a little more sympathetic as he let one arm drop off the side of the bed to roughly ruffle Sehun’s thick black hair. “Alright fine, if you really want to look older, I can help you with that.”

  
Interest piqued, Sehun met Luhan’s eyes, confused at the considering light in his eyes as he stared at the silken strands of hair running between his fingers. “Hyung, what—”

  
“You said Jongin has a thing for bad boys, right?” Luhan interrupted, his eyes moving from staring at Sehun’s hair to staring straight into his brain with just his eyes. It was a disconcerting look and Sehun was faintly disturbed as he nodded and answered with an unsure, “Yeah, so?”

  
Luhan’s earlier stare was nothing compared to his creepy smirk now. “I have a brilliant idea, Sehun-ah.”

  
Sehun gulped.

 

Two hours later, filled with much pain and screaming, and uncomfortable tugging and pinching and pulling found Sehun sitting on Luhan’s bed and waiting for the older man to bring back a mirror so he could see the damage done to his _wonderful stallion mane._

  
Sehun didn’t know why he allowed Luhan to talk him into sitting in the bathroom with bleach rubbed into his hair and scalp twice. However, it did make him feel a little better about the subsequent burning and frying of his scalp as he loudly and incessantly whined. The entire time. Saint Luhan was actually frustrated with him enough at the end of the impromptu salon session to purposely use steaming hot tap water to rinse out his hair in the bathroom sink.

  
Needless to say after more extensive brushing, drying, and styling, Luhan had sat back and basked in the genius of his cosmetology majoring self. Sehun had sighed and asked Luhan when it would all end in his irritation and the older man narrowed his eyes at him before he walked to his dresser and retrieved a black shiny leather case. “Just for that, I’m doing the full idol service on you.” He’d said and Sehun had to tamp down the urge to stomp his foot and throw a tantrum as his hyung advanced with a wicked looking eyelash curler.

  
Shifting in his seat, Sehun heard the distinct sound of rustling clothes and he glared down at himself in irritation. He was wearing some paper thin dress shirt that Luhan gave him. It was definitely not to his tastes, because it had some detailed pin tucking and some other fashionable stuff done to it. The only thing Sehun liked about the dumb shirt was the fact that it was just his size, loose enough to be comfortable and fitted enough to compliment the lines of his shoulders and gym won torso. Internally Sehun wondered why Luhan had something that seemed made just for him in his black hole of a closet.

  
“Alright, when I reveal my creation of Adonis, please do not scream cry, or generally freak out. Do however, rate and review with 5/5 stars, would hire next time on Angie’s List—”

  
“Will you shut up and just let me see the damage?” Sehun interrupted crankily.

  
Luhan huffed, but he allowed Sehun to snatch the silver handheld mirror from his hands.

  
The first thing Sehun noticed was the hair. It was a shark pale blonde and it actually blended well with his fair complexion. It helped that the hair cut Luhan had forced on him made his hair lightly brush against his eyebrows, which to his surprise actually looked okay unbleached and still a stark natural black. The ‘idol’ makeup also forced on him was pretty faint and Sehun noticed that the barest hint of eyeliner and shadow on his lids made his eyes look hooded and dangerous. Lip balm, another thing Sehun had protested, but settled for in favor of avoiding gloss, complimented the shape and natural color of his lips well.

  
“Woah,” Sehun settled for saying once he dry swallowed and tentatively touched his face in near awe. It was scarily amazing what Luhan could do with a few tweaks here and there, and based on the smug look on his face, the older man knew it as well.

  
“Exactly. Looking like this, Jongin will definitely notice you.” Luhan gloated and for once Sehun let him, too busy ogling himself and pinching his cheeks to see if it really was him reflected in the mirror.

  
“Yeah…” Sehun murmured, still getting used to the sight of what felt like a new face. He had black hair his entire life, and to suddenly see it all gone in a sexed up blonde mess, he was feeling a little optimistic as well. This was a different take on what Jongin’s type seemed to be, but there was no harm in trying a little variety. And didn’t they say that delinquents back home in Korea had colored hair?

  
Putting the mirror down, Sehun frowned again when the ridiculous white shirt he was wearing crinkled with the movement. “You done goofed with the clothes hyung. I’m calling Baekhyun.”

 

 

☆✯☆

 

 

Sehun gazed into his shiny black orbs. They caught the overhead light and twinkled and Sehun felt his cheeks heat up.

  
“J-Jongin, I need to tell you something. I’ve f-felt this way for years now, a-and I know I’m young, but-” Sehun stopped talking for a moment to collect his thoughts and he ignored the small crowd behind him in favor of sighing and gathering his thoughts, flustered embarrassment crawling up his spine and making his hands break out into a clammy sweat . “I l-like you.”

  
A snicker lead to a giggle at the admission, and like dominoes, laughter rang out in the room and Sehun scowled before he whirled around and glared at the three hyenas he called friends.

  
“Will you assholes _stop_ laughing! It’s embarrassing enough doing this as is!” He shouted and Chanyeol was surprisingly the one to try to compose himself enough to speak.

  
“I-I just _ca_ -n’t. _Ha!_ Oh my god, I c-can’t believe you actually did it!” One look at Sehun’s red face and angry eyes had Chanyeol glancing behind Sehun slightly, his shoulders shaking now as he gave up holding back and slid to the floor in his laughter. He kicked his feet around and slapped the ground as he twitched on the ground, looking absolutely ridiculous, but Sehun was too busy feeling the mortified need to drown himself to make fun of him.

  
Baekhyun was shrieking with laughter as well, sounding like a deranged clown, although he did manage to grab a shaky Luhan and hold him by the shoulders, staring deep into his surprised eyes.

  
“Oh Jongin, I _W-wuvvve you!_!” He declared dramatically, dropping his girly voice in a mockery of Sehun’s drawl.

  
Catching on, Luhan controlled himself long enough to bare his teeth at Baekhyun and play growl. “GRRR! Nini bear says _Yaassss_!” Chanyeol, having calmed in his fit of laughter, immediately dissolved into loud guffaws that sounded as if he were choking on something. Sehun hoped he actually did one day, preferably dying in the asphyxiation process.

  
“I absolutely despise all of you obnoxious asses.” Sehun seethed, one hundred percent certain that he looked redder than a tomato as he turned around and grabbed the innocent marble eyed stuffed bear and threw it at all three of them. The toy smacked into Luhan, and the thin male giggled and flopped back onto Sehun’s bed. The old man was obviously unfazed because he held onto the bear and began placing noisy kisses all over its face while moaning out Jongin’s name in a breathy high tone.

  
Flustered, Sehun covered his ears and chanted an array of la la la, desperately wishing that he could go back in time to advise his old self to just wear Luhan’s stupid shirt home and change into all black clothing to match his new hairstyle.

  
Alas, Sehun was young and stupid, and insulting Luhan’s clothing choice while mentioning Baekhyun was a mistake. Now Sehun was stuck in his single dorm with all three older men, who had taken Chanyeol’s idea of practicing his confession to Jongin on a bear and run with it.

  
Calming down now, Luhan sat up again and wiped the corners of his eyes, his other hand clutching the aching muscles of his stomach. His cheeks felt sore from smiling so hard and he wordlessly patted himself on the back for latching onto Sehun’s side and following him to his dorm, where Chanyeol and Baekhyun met up with them. Due to their different majors and class schedules, and Sehun’s meddling, it was rare for all three of them to get together. Then again, they say birds of a feather flock together, and Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Luhan were nothing if not kindred spirits because they all shared the same passion of being shit hyungs to little Sehunnie.

  
“Alright, alright, alright.” Baekhyun finally said once he was finished wheezing out the last of his laughter at the expense of Sehun’s pride. “Now that that’s over with, why did you need to talk to me?”

  
Sehun pouted form his crouched position on the floor. After what just happened, he didn’t feel like asking the older man for help, in fact, he would rather confess to the stupid teddy bear again.

  
Seeing his sulky and stubborn face, Luhan smirked and divulged Sehun’s life secret. “He wanted to ask you to find something for him to wear when he decides to grow a pair and shove it in—”

  
“ _Luhan_!” Sehun yelled, absolutely scandalized.

  
Chanyeol chuckled again, but he did look Sehun up and down before turning to the pretty pair on the bed. “You think you can fix him up, Baek?”

  
With his chin resting on his closed fist, Baekhyun looked Sehun up and down, a contemplative expression on his face. “I don’t have anything on me now, but we can go shopping on Monday and ship him off to Jongin in time for their lessons on Tuesday.” It was already a late Sunday evening and most shops closed early, at least not the ones with a good selection of clothing that Baekhyun wouldn’t burn to a crisp in an effort to purge it.

  
Luhan hummed in agreement at the same time Chanyeol bobbed his big head in a nod. “That sounds good. I don’t have classes tomorrow so I’m free to do his hair and makeup again.” Luhan added.

  
Sehun tried to fall in line with the plan, but the only thing on his mind was, “Who’s going to pay for all this?”

  
That shut all three of the others up and Luhan and Baekhyun immediately shouted “Not it!” with a surprised Sehun shouting after them a second later on pure reflex.

  
Being the odd one out, Chanyeol whined and he looked genuinely put out. “C’mon, don’t do this to me guys! My wallet is already suffering car payments and insurance claims!”

  
Seeing his chance to tease him in retaliation for the bear trick, Sehun snickered maliciously at Chanyeol, mentally promising himself to go on an all-out shopping spree. He needed a new wardrobe anyway.

  
“Good, that means you’re used to being broke.”

 

 

☆✯☆

 

 

The next day, when Sehun walked through campus, he felt really self-conscious. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could almost see people stopping to stare at him, or turn to their friends and giggle, their eyes following him as he passed by. Several times, he almost turned around and ran back to the safety of his dorm, but by the time he hatched a plan to actually do so without alerting his hyungs to his chickening out, he was standing in front of the library doors.

  
‘ _Okay, I can do this!’_ Sehun mentally pepped himself up, taking a deep breath. Baekhyun had texted him earlier and told him that he saw Jongin enter the library while he was walking to class. Of course, within the group chat all three of his older friends ganged up on him and blackmailed him into coming in and talking to Jongin.

  
Straightening up, Sehun ran a hand through his bleach fried locks and finally opened the door to the library. Inside there were countless students scattered about the room, a lot of them looking stressed and haggard as they huddled around the area with all their mathematic and anatomy text books. Scanning the room with his eyes, Sehun finally spotted a head full of silken brown hair, the coffee colored strands catching the light of the library and somehow looking bronzed and golden.

  
Jongin was sitting in a chair, slumped over and his face probably smushed into the book he was reading. Smiling at the endearing sight, Sehun didn’t hesitate to move forward. It seemed as if all his earlier worries and doubts floated away at the sight of his affections, looking unbelievably soft and innocent in the vulnerable state of sleep.

  
Once Sehun reached the table Jongin was napping on, he took a seat across from him. He could hear faint puffs of air escaping Jongin’s gently parted lips and Sehun resisted the ridiculous urge to coo, his tutor sounded like a snoring puppy and just the analogy had him feeling warm on the inside.

  
A faint buzzing coming from his pocket had Sehun snapping out of his fuzzy thoughts. He frowned as he fished out his phone, Jongin thankfully still snoozing in front of him.

 

**From: Bun Bae-Hunt**   
**did u actually make it 2 the library??**

**From: ChanSeoulFood**   
**lolz, nah he prob biched out an is hiding at home rn watchin star love**

**From: LutillaTheHan**   
**Its My Love From Another Star. I kno u kno the name, u watch it religiously every Sunday yeol**   
**An the Maknae made it**

**From: ChanSeoulFood**   
**how u kno dis!??**

**Lord Sehun Sent:**   
**hey, I made it! An stahp textin me.** **In library, Jongin’s sleepin**

**From: Bun Bae-Hunt**   
**thsi iz it!!! Seuhn, kiss him awake disney style**   
**he’ll have no choise but 2 luv u!!!**

**From: LutillaTheHan**   
**…Or press charges.**

**From: ChanSeoulFood**   
**thas a sacrafise he willin to make form KimBooty**   
***for the holy one an only KimBooty, scuze meh**

 

The last text had Sehun rolling his eyes before silencing his phone and putting it back into his pocket. He could deal with the idiotic trio later, but first, he had to wake Jongin and maybe change his perception of him. Hopefully score a date and flirt a little as well.

  
However, when Sehun looked back at Jongin and saw his nose twitch in his sleep, he melted again and the urge to take out his phone and snap a quick picture was really really tempting. Luckily, he reined it in long enough to think up a way to wake Jongin without startling him too bad. The kissing option was definitely off the table, so he had to do things the old fashioned way.

  
“Jonginnie hyung.”

  
The tutor was a surprisingly heavy sleeper, and it was evident now when Jongin barely did more than shuffle in his sleep when Sehun called his name. Not willing to give in, Sehun called out to him again, only to be rewarded with a sleep huff as Jongin buried his face deeper in his folded arms. A few pages of his textbook crinkled with the movement and Sehun sighed.

  
It was time to resort to more effective means of waking someone up, shoulder shaking. Unfortunately no matter how often or how hard he shook and called Jongin’s name, the tutor only mumbled in his sleep and swatted at him with a lazy wave of his hand. Were it any other time under any other circumstance, Sehun might have just left him alone to get the sleep he so obviously needed, but he had to talk to Jongin and maybe confess. At the very least he wanted to see the man’s reaction to his hair and potentially get the older male to see him as more than a younger student.

  
After a while, Sehun gave up trying to wake Jongin and slid out his phone, glancing around surreptitiously before snapping a quick picture of his sleeping hyung. The pictures came out nice enough that it made him feel a little better for creeping, but as soon as he snapped a third pic, Jongin began stirring and Sehun immediately shoved the phone back into his pocket.

  
Watching Jongin’s wide eyes blink sleepily, Sehun stayed frozen in his seat across from the tutor. Jongin didn’t seem to take notice of him, still a little drowsy and mind sleep addled. He had a red print stuck on his cheek in the shape of a book corner and his brown hair was a little on the ruffled side of messy. In short, he looked like he was shooting a commercial to Sehun, and the student knew that he was in deep when he found Jongin’s yawn and eye rubbing attractive.

  
Still, Sehun was here for a reason and before Jongin could fall back asleep, Sehun called out to him. “Jongin.” He had practiced saying his name for hours, and the effect it had on his tutor was hopefully something along the lines of unoffended. Being familiar with him wouldn’t be too bad because they weren’t in Korea but he’d been calling his crush hyung ever since they met.

  
Jongin looked startled and he glanced around before his eyes fell on Sehun. His reaction was a little promising, his eyes widened in awe and his mouth fell open around a soundless gasp.

 

“… _Sehunnie_!?”

  
And there was the recognition. If it were any other person he was sitting in front of, Sehun probably would have stayed stoic, but he was with Jongin and he was barely holding back from fidgeting as it were. Unfortunately for his own composure and sanity, Jongin didn’t say anything more, instead he kept staring as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing.

  
“It looks bad, doesn’t it?” Sehun asked, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck and fighting down a flustered blush. As soon as he got home he was gonna call Luhan and strangle him, then he was gonna take out Chanyeol and Baekhyun for helping the dumb deer for tricking him into thinking that this was a good idea—

  
“No, it looks good,” Jongin finally seemed to snap out of his daze and he was now looking down at his hands, twisting them in his lap and Sehun was very pleased to see the tips of his ears turning red. “I-I mean, you l-look nice.” Jongin fell silent again but when he peeked up from under his lashes, Sehun was grinning widely.

  
“Thank you Jongin,” Sehun replied and it was only then that the tutor caught on to the use of his first name.

 

Confused, Jongin stopped playing with his hands and he tilted his head at Sehun. “Jongin?” He parroted his own name.

  
Embarrassed at his own boldness, Sehun scratched his cheek and averted his eyes away from Jongin. He latter looked almost like a curious puppy with his brown eyes and his tilted head. It was almost too easy to imagine a pair of brown floppy ears on top of his head. “Well, we’ve known each other for years and I think we’ve outgrown the usual teacher-student relationship.” Sehun reasoned.

  
Jongin considered his words while Sehun sweated, wondering if he offended him. Then Jongin nodded and smiled, looking Sehun straight in the eye and shooting his efforts down with an innocent sparkle in his eyes. “You’re right, Sehun. I consider you one of my best _friends_.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

### Transparent Water (Please See Through Me)

 

 

Since outright trying to talk to Jongin has failed, Sehun has resorted to doing what the rest of the population does when they have a question. Google it.

 

 

 

  
‘ _What the hell am I doing?_ ’ Sehun thought with a sigh, staring at his phone screen for a while before checking for any new messages. Apparently since the librabry fail, his friends have as they said, “ _disowned him_.” Grumbling to himsef, Sehun rolled over in his bed and stared at his phone screen some more before he tapped on the best google suggestion option.

 

 

 

1\. Say it. It’s simple.

  
Sehun stared at his phone for a moment before he groaned in frustration and finally buried his face in his pillow. _‘Google, how could even you let me down!?’_ He mentally screamed in frustration. If talking to Jongin were as easy as it seemed, then Sehun wouldn’t be here, in his dorm room, freaking out before his indifferent roommate came back to judge him.

  
Earlier, in the library, Sehun had gotten some alone time with Jongin, he had cornered him in a semi secluded place, he had gotten his attention with his hair, and then _BAM_!!!

  
He was friend zoned before even getting the chance to tell Jongin that he wanted to bang date him.

  
Sehun’s phone pinged and he got up to check his messages. He deflated once he realized it was just a game notification. Sighing dramatically once again, Sehun decided to see what else google had to say.

  
2\. Use his interests. Use his interests in order to confess your feelings.

  
Option two was out, Jongin was interested in chicken, puppies, and books. Neither hobby was beneficial to Sehun in his quest to confess, hell he was friend zoned in the damn library.

  
3\. Use a song.

  
Three was no way that was happening. Sehun couldn’t sing for shit and he had absolutely no talent with musical instruments. Chanyeol was adept at playing guitar, despite his goofy face, but Sehun was not gonna have the man play a song for him as he attempted to confess to Jongin. That would be like handing over the ultimate kryptonite of black mail material and Sehun planned to live the rest of his days without shame.

  
4\. Make him a present.

  
Sehun considered that option for a few moments before he crossed it off his mental checklist. Jongin wasn’t really one to be swayed by pretty things, and Sehun didn’t have any money to buy him what he deserved. A handmade and meaningful gift was also out of the question because Sehun had absolutely no creativity when it came to things like that. At best, he would probably resort to crafting a piece of paper folded in half and decorated like a kindergarten art project.

  
5\. Write him a letter.

  
This was a more valid option. Sehun wasn’t exactly a literature major, but he knew his way around some pretty words. With Jongin in mind, all Sehun had to do was translate his thoughts and feelings to paper. However, there was also the possibility that Sehun might somehow manage to screw up even a letter. It was on to the next option.

  
6\. Make a video.

  
Nope. Not today, tomorrow, or even yesterday. Sehun looked like crap on camera, as proved by all his past selfie fails on Instagram. He could only imagine the horrors a camera filter would to do to his complexion.

  
Sehun sat up and looked at his phone in contemplation. He eventually decided to go with the lesser of six evils and as he slipped off his bed to reach his desk, he accidentally pressed the touch screen of his phone and he cursed when an ad popped up. He tried pressing the back button, but it did nothing to stop the inevitable, and Sehun was startled when the super loud volume of the video blasted in the room.

  
“ _Hey, it’s summer time! And there’s nothing better to beat the heat than a little party at night with someone banging.”_ A man said, he sounded around Sehun’s age and the college student wondered how the hell this crack ad managed to take over his phone and waste his data. _“Wild summer nights are all about making hot, passionate love!”_ The smiling face of a man and woman popped up on screen, both walking down the cliché backdrop of the ocean at night with the full moon shining behind them and the wind blowing their salon quality hair in perfect waves. It looked like it was shot with a phone camera, though based on the sound of rustling, the video recorder was hiding in a bush.

  
_“But, to get someone that hot, you have to put in effort, so come in to Carnation Flower Shop today and get your bae a plant that will get you out of the friend zone bro!”_ A picture montage of a flower shop appeared on screen and Sehun almost felt the need to cringe at the bad sparkle filter added to the edges of the screen, horrible glitter sound affects accompanying the eye sore. The commercial finally ended, but the last scene of the flower shop remained on the screen, that terrible spinning circle signifying horrible internet connection fading in and out of sight.

  
Sehun’s dumb phone then froze and the college freshman found himself sighing once again. Nothing had gone his way that day, but now he at least had some time to recuperate and plan his next attack. He was still determined to win Jongin’s heart, he _was_ worth it after all.

 

 

☆✯☆

 

 

At ten AM sharp on a Saturday, Sehun was pacing in his room. The letter he had spent a few hours on the night before was sitting on his desk, absolutely pristine and neatly folded. He had re-written the thing ten times last night, since his handwriting wasn’t neat enough, or the paper got wrinkled, or his pen ink bled through and left a huge spot that nothing was going to fix.

  
He had been up since six in the morning and if he weren’t a morning person, he would have probably drowned himself in coffee by now. But that was the least of his worries, he was pacing because a simple letter seemed too plain to fully express how he felt about Jongin. And there was no way Sehun was just going to give his cute tutor something that belonged in the trash, however Sehun had already done all he could to make his letter absolutely perfect. He had almost killed himself writing in near calligraphy on thick cardstock, which he sprayed with a little cologne in the hopes that Jongin would gather the hint that Sehun was the one who sent it. He also picked out an envelope in the same color that Jongin had said once made him smile every time he saw it. It was sky blue with a robin’s egg sheen added to it. The slight shimmer added to the color made the damn envelope hard to find, much less be written on without running ink or soaking it up like a sponge.

  
So while Sehun had done everything right and had finally gotten the perfect letter, he was also stumped for ideas because it just didn’t seem like it was enough.

  
Passing by his mirror, Sehun avoided looking at his messy blonde hair and instead decided to sit at his desk. Except when he saw all the remnants of his failed letter, he frowned and decided to sit on his bed again. He could always consult on of his hyungs, but the three bastards were probably off raising hell since it was Saturday. Or maybe they were dead to the world because it wasn’t noon yet and they had gotten an early start on the weekend on Friday. Either way, Chanyeol, Baekhyun, and even Luhan were not likely to answer their phones and talk to Sehun.

  
There was always google though…

  
Sehun perked up at the thought and glanced at his phone, where it lay abandoned by the wall plug on his absentee roommate’s side of the room. Darting up, Sehun snatched the device up and quickly pressed the power button, praying that the frozen screen from the night before didn’t pop up and haunt him again. The familiar chime of the phone company’s jingle along with the android logo popped up and Sehun breathed a sigh of relief when his lock screen came up without a hitch. He was a little paranoid that one of his hyungs would see it and tease him for it, but he couldn’t decide which cute Tumblr photo of Jongin he wanted to see often. So sleepy Jongin was set as his phone lock screen and a happy, mid laugh Jongin was set as his wallpaper. Honestly it was a win-win for Sehun and as long as his secret was kept he would feel no shame.

  
Entering his lock pattern, Sehun’s home screen popped up and he took a moment to admire Jongin’s face before he quickly clicked the google search bar. The same ad from last night popped up again and Sehun was forced to watch it with a groan, however by the time the ad had faded away, he was already considering the signs. This ad for a flower shop had popped up twice, surely this meant that a flower or a bouquet was meant to be added to his letter.

  
Sehun smiled and he didn’t need time to dwell on his decision before he was standing up and grabbing his jacket, making sure to stuff his rarely used wallet into his pocket as he shoved his feet into his favorite worn converse. He had some flowers to pick for Jongin, hopefully it would be the right touch, Jongin did have a tendency to like making pressed flower bookmarks.

 

 

☆✯☆

 

 

“A’ight. So you want something that will get you into this Jonginnie’s pants?” A tall man asked in a lazy drawl. His voice was the same one as in the ad, but whatever Sehun was expecting, it obviously wasn’t some surfer dude with shocking silvery white hair, deeply tanned skin, and eyes greyer than a thunderstorm. He had a surprising solid few inches on Sehun in the height department, and he was no slouch when it came to fitness based on what his loose tank and basketball shorts revealed.

  
“That wasn’t what I said at all.” Sehun finally settled for saying, wrinkling his nose at the man, whose name tag read Ian, when he kicked off his sandals and then sat on the countertop next to the register.

  
Ian shrugged and he pulled a juice box from the black apron he was wearing. “That’s basically what you said anyway.” He replied, poking the box with the straw and immediately latching onto it like a kid.

  
‘ _No wonder the ad looked like something that belonged on a comedy show_.’ Sehun thought a bit condescendingly.

  
“Hey so you gonna pick one or whatever?” Ian asked once he finished draining his juice box, his grey eyes zeroing in on Sehun’s own black orbs and somehow managing to unsettle the college freshman. Sehun was used to getting stares, but the way Ian looked at him… it was like the guy could see his secrets and was somehow filing away his information.

  
“Uh, yeah, I wanted something that would signify…uhm l-love.” Sehun mumbled, trying to cover his slight stutter with a cough and not quite managing to succeed based on the way Ian smirked teasingly at him.

  
“Then you came to the right place bro, I might not be as good as fish bait at all that sentimental flower crap, but I know my way around.” Ian finally replied, confusing Sehun because he didn’t know who the hell fish bait was, much less _why_ someone would decide on _that_ as a nickname.

  
Without waiting for Sehun to gather himself, Ian threw his empty juice box into the trashcan at the other side of the room, whooping when he made a basketball worthy shot. He then hopped off the counter and Sehun found himself comparing the man’s skin with Jongin’s. Since he was practically raised in the US, Sehun was used to seeing a diverse range of people and he always found Jongin to be pretty with his light bronze flush despite what relatives in Korea think. But compared to his tutor, Ian was like roasting cocoa.

  
“Hey, you gonna stand there all day Princeling, or are you gonna pick out a plant for your girl?” Ian shouted from across the flower shop. He was standing in front of some display tables placed in the middle of the shop and Sehun hesitantly followed after him, his eyes sweeping across the array of blooming flowers available in the shop.

  
“My name is Sehun.” Sehun finally replied, once he made it to Ian’s side, his attention caught by some flowers with lots of sunny yellow petals. There was a little sign in front of the flower pot that read marigold, but aside from a complicated scientific name written under it, Sehun had no idea if it meant ‘ _I like you, please go out with me,’_ or ‘ _please fail in life and remain forever alone.’_

  
“What?” Ian asked, scratching his head in confusion.

  
Sehun looked up at him and narrowed his eyes a bit. “My name is not Princeling, its _Sehun_ , so use it.”

  
“Whatever you say Princeling,” Ian replied, shrugging off Sehun’s words. Sighing, Sehun rubbed his temples and wondered how the hell anyone put up with the dude.

  
“Anyway, you want something that looks good, or do you want something that looks like a weed?” Ian asked, pointing out some flowers and then gesturing to some plants that read baby’s breath. “Fish bait always gets these giant roses and pairs them with those weeds, but I think we can throw in some blue flowers to make it look cool.”

  
Sehun raised an eyebrow, “Red and blue flowers? You think anyone will like a Spider Man themed bouquet?”

  
Ian looked confused. “Man Spider who?”

  
“Never mind,” Sehun shook his head in disbelief. “How about I just get one flower. I don’t think a whole bouquet in a vase thing is going to fit on someone’s doorstep.”

  
“Alright, we can get you one flower if you wanna look like a cheapskate.” Ian quipped, his tone somehow annoying and joking at the same time.

  
“Never mind, I don’t need your help. I can pick out something for myself,” Sehun then brushed past the weird worker and proceeded to look through row after row of flowers.

  
“Be my guest, less work for me,” Ian said, finally drifting back to the store counter and pulling another juice box from out of nowhere.

  
After quite some time searching around, Sehun finally saw a pot of blue flowers with the most complicated bunch of petals he had seen so far. It was almost like a marigold, but the petals were thinner and more numerous, and when Sehun drew closer he read the sign posted in the flower pot soil.

  
A Bachelor’s Button flower it was.

 

 

☆✯☆

 

 

This was it, the moment of truth.

  
Currently the sun was high in the sky, shining bright and attracting heat. Sehun was sweating behind a couple of bushes located right next to Jongin’s door, silently thanking the tutor for being too busy to garden the way he usually did.

  
_‘I can do this, just dump it and run,’_ Sehun mentally prepped himself. He shifted from behind the bushes and winced a little when a random branch poked him in the back. Taking a deep breath, Sehun stood up and in two bounded steps he was on Jongin’s porch. He quickly placed the letter and the blue flower on the welcome mat.

  
Before he could even think too much about it, Sehun rang the doorbell, and he didn’t bother waiting for someone to answer before he was running off as fast someone doing a snatch and run.

  
A tree from the house next door to Jongin’s home came into view and Sehun dived for it. He hid behind the thick trunk and made sure he was hidden before he turned to look back at Jongin’s door. His own heartbeat was pounding away in his ears, and he was probably heaving like a dog with its tongue lolling out, but he managed to pay attention when the door cracked open.

  
He was expecting to see a head full of silky brown hair, what he was not expecting to see was a familiar headful of cropped and spiked black hair.

  
‘ _What the hell is he doing here!!?_ ’ Sehun thought when Kyungsoo picked up his letter and flower. The man stared at the stuff for a moment before he looked up and glanced around the neighborhood. Sehun stayed absolutely still and breathed a sigh of relief when the man’s eyes passed over the tree he was hiding behind.

  
Kyungsoo finally shrugged to himself before going back inside and Sehun was left smacking his head on a tree trunk. ‘ _Idiot, why didn’t I just call Jonginnie hyung to see if he was home first!?_ ’ Sehun reprimanded himself, stopping when his forehead started to sting. He pouted and rubbed his head sulkily. He thought he knew Jongin’s schedule but the man must not have come home for lunch, or maybe he was still at work and decided to eat there.

  
Now that he had no reason to hide, Sehun began walking back home, though he barely made it halfway before he gave up and called Chanyeol to pick him up. The beat up little car appeared a few minutes later and by the time Chanyeol stopped for him, Sehun was driving himself crazy coming up with theories on why Kyungsoo was once again at Jongin’s house.

  
Theory one was this: Kyungsoo was a crazy stalker who played nice when Jongin was around but secretly broke into his home to steal his underwear. Or something else, like the hairs on Jongin’s brush. With Kyungsoo’s crazy eyes, it could be plausible.

  
Theory two was this: Jongin just went and handed the guy the keys to his home so that he could water his plants. It was a long shot considering that Jongin only gardened outside.

  
But theory three was the worst. Theory three told Sehun that Kyungsoo and Jongin were together, but were somehow able to hide their relationship from Sehun until now, when Kyungsoo moved in. The mere image of Kyungsoo and Jongin being domestic had Sehun wanting to bleach his brain and maybe his eyes while he was at it.

  
“Hey, you good Sehun?” Chanyeol suddenly asked, breaking through Sehun’s train of thought.

  
They were stopped at a red light and Sehun realized that they were a couple blocks down from the school Jongin taught at now. Clearing his throat, Sehun cracked a smile and waved Chanyeol off. “Yeah I’m fine. I’m just wondering if Jongin will read my letter.”

  
Chanyeol broke into a grin and he clapped on Sehun’s shoulder in excitement. “That’s it man! You finally did it, now I gotta tell the others that I won the bet!”

  
Sehun frowned and shoved Chanyeol’s lanky arm off his shoulders. “What bet?”

  
“The one that just won me two hundred dollars!” Chanyeol replied, pressing on the gas with a happy hum when the traffic lights turned green. “I knew you had it in you Sehun, oh man Luhan is gonna be so pissed when I tell him you didn’t wait _another_ four years to confess.”

  
Sehun opened his mouth to yell at Chanyeol, probably cuss him out for betting behind his back, about his own love life no less. But he found that he just didn’t have the energy or the words, so he settled for groaning and throwing his hands up in the air dramatically. “I don’t even know why I’m surprised at this point, you guys are just plain _dumb_.”

  
Chanyeol didn’t even have the decency to look offended, he just grinned at Sehun and shot him a wink. “Your claws need sharpening Grumpy Cat, _dumb_ is an insult for five year olds now-a-days.”

  
Sehun settled for pinching his arm and twisting viciously. Chanyeol still screeched like a girl when he did it and now Sehun felt a little better about things. Even if Kyungsoo was somehow not the weirdo theory one suggested he was, Sehun had three somewhat helpful hyungs backing him, not to mention that Sehun had a copy of his letter. Just in case.

 

 

☆✯☆

 

 

“Alright, spill brat.” Luhan said as soon as Sehun stepped into the restaurant he was planning to let Chanyeol treat him to lunch at.

  
“How the hell did you get here before us, and how did you find out so fas- You know what. I don’t want to know.” Sehun sighed.

  
Luhan crossed his arms. “I want answers, now.”

  
Chanyeol grinned widely and threw an arm around a sulky Sehun’s shoulders. “He confessed via letter like a true schoolboy.” He then fake sniffed, “They grow up so fast, I barely remember him as the little kid with helmet hair and a face too old for his body.”

  
Sehun elbowed him in the side and scowled, “I knew I should have made my Facebook account private.” His mom had a habit of posting his old embarrassing pictures, but he couldn’t unfriend her unless he wanted to hear an hour long lecture.

  
Suddenly two hands were thrown over Sehun’s eyes and a teasing voice was echoing in his ears. “ _Guess_ _who_ ~!”

  
“Baekhyun, this lame prank doesn’t work if you can barely manage to reach my shoulders.” Sheun deadpanned, easily able to look up and see the ceiling from over the top of Baekhyun’s fingers.

  
“What! Were you calling me short you little—”

  
Luhan raised a hand and somehow managed to silence Baekhyun. “Leave the maknae alone, he has yet to tell us the fine details of how we lost two hundred dollars to this giant elf/troll hybrid.” He didn’t need to point at Chanyeol for the basketball player to frown and shout an indignant “ _Hey_!”

  
“What do you mean we lost? Sehun is standing right here, not out and fondling The Kim _Booty_.” Baekhyun asked, oblivious to Sehun’s glare at the mention of Jongin’s ass. Luhan shrugged and looked to Chanyeol and Sehun to explain, a slight glare and a faux frown on his lips.

  
Chanyeol merely smiled back at them, “Let’s get a table and speak face to face then, my neck is hurting from looking down on you guys.” Both Luhan and Baekhyun narrowed their eyes at Chanyeol dangerously, but Sehun took the liberty of rolling his eyes and brushing past them all to pick out an empty table. He chose a relatively private one just to save himself from mortification, anytime he was out with the terrible trio he made it a point to do so. The last few times he didn’t were enough to send shivers of embarrassment through his spine to this day.

  
“Alright, this is what happened,” Chanyeol began, enjoying being in the spotlight. “Sehun wrote a love letter and sent it to Jongin with a bouquet of flowers. A nice touch if I do say so myself.”

  
Baekhyun slumped onto the table and cradled his face. “That’s it!? Have we taught you nothing Sehunnie!?? _Hyung is so ashamed_!”

  
Luhan was actually the one to slap some sense into Baekhyun, but Sehun wasn’t sure he preferred the crazy look that entered his eyes. “We need proof, or no one is getting paid.”

  
Chanyeol scoffed, “You think I’m lying?”

  
“Well, it wouldn’t be the first time, Mr. Second Base with a Broken Arm.” Luhan huffed, referring to a past that Sehun wasn’t a part of yet. Chanyeol actually blushed, and Sehun was the one to smirk at him this time.

  
“Fine, but how are we gonna do this?”

  
Baekhyun was the first one to whip out his phone. “We call him and ask him what he thought of the letter.”

  
Sehun immediately shook his head. “No way, he probably hasn’t had time to read it yet, he’s been a little busy lately.” He didn’t mention that Kyungsoo was the one to pick up the letter, instead of Jongin. That would have led to a barrage of invasive questions that Sehun was positive he didn’t have the answers to.

  
“Well unless you wrote him a damn novel, he has enough time _and_ curiosity to read the random letter that appeared in the middle of the day.” Baekhyun said. “Now, tell me his number.”

  
Sehun shook his head again, “No way. I’d rather call him than subject him to a prank call, a butt dial or even a drunken call for help from _you_.” Baekhyun had done all three and more with Sehun, he could only imagine what he would do if he had Jongin’s number at his disposal, the possibilities were endless with someone as deranged as him.

  
Baekhyun pouted at Sehun, “Fine be that way, but when his brothers come back from China, I’m going down to student resources and asking for him to tutor me.” Luhan shoved at Baekhyun’s shoulder. “You little HOE!! I knew I shouldn’t have let you get me drunk and spill my secrets!”

  
Baekhyun cackled and dodged Luhan’s flailing hands. “I was just joking! Geeze, don’t get your granny panties in a twist Lu _hua_.” As they attempted murder on one another, Sehun pulled out his phone and stared at the screen in contemplation. If he called Jongin now…would he answer? And if he did, would Kyungsoo actually have been decent enough to hand over Sehun’s letter? It wasn’t a completely discreet letter, not to mention the fact that there was a cultivated blue flower sent with the thing.

  
“Oh my god, is that really your wallpaper!?!” Chanyeol screeched and Sehun was soon flailing and trying to hide his phone at the same time. Chanyeol however, had caught him by surprise and his stupid athletic I-Work-Out arms were stronger than his own.

  
“It is, look look! Our Sehunnie has been stalking someone online!” Chanyeol announced, using one arm to push Sehun away and the other to show Baekhyun and Luhan.

  
“Wow… I didn’t realize just how _thirsty_ you were Sehun.” Luhan shook his head in mock disappointment, apparently forgetting all about Baekhyun for a second.

  
“H-He looks a hella lot like that Taemin guy,” Baekhyun wheezed from his seat, still caught in a headlock by Luhan. The guy had a pretty face and a severe boner for soccer, but his wiry arms were no joke either.

  
“I know right? That’s what I was telling Sehun the other day.” Chanyeol agreed. Sehun growled and tried harder to get his phone back. “Give it back you asshole! I swear _any_ other time you’re a clumsy giraffe, not an actual defense player.”

  
Chanyeol huffed. “Just for that, I’m going through your gallery and counting all your Jongin pictures.” Baekhyun and Luhan encouraged him with loud cheers, but Sehun finally got fed up and he stomped on Chanyeol’s toe. While the man was overreacting at the pain, Sehun reeled in his phone and clutched it to his chest like the little creature that muttered “ _My precious_ ” in that one movie Jongin made him watch.

  
Baekhyun and Luhan deflated and shot Chanyeol disappointed looks. “Damn it, we almost had enough blackmail material to shame Sehun until he graduates.” Baekhyun said, only for Luhan to gesture for him to shut up.

  
All three older men stared at Sehun impatiently, the maknae staring back in distrust and clutching his phone to his chest. Eventually Luhan groaned, “Will you call Jongin already!? Money is on the line brat.”

  
Sehun suddenly felt his heartbeat accelerate and his hands turn sweaty and clammy. He almost felt as if he were walking on the edge of a tall building, only to be buffeted by the wind and close to falling, he was a mix of nervous and scared. ‘ _W-what if he doesn’t like me back and everyone here knows?’_ Sehun thought, frowning at the thought, but just as quickly shaking it off. There was no way he could put this off any longer, he had been pining for years and he had to tell Jongin or he would be stuck feeling nothing but regret.

  
“I-I’ll call him now.” Sehun finally breathed out. Chanyeol sent him an encouraging thumbs up and Baekhyun followed with a nod and a hand gesture that meant go on. With a few swipes of his fingers, Sehun’s phone began ringing. For a moment Sehun’s mind was torn between wanting Jongin answer and not wanting him to answer.

  
_“…Hello?”_

  
Sehun completely froze and he started flailing in panic, he was not ready! _Not_ _ready_!!

  
Baekhyun and Luhan frantically gestured for Sehun t answer, but it wasn’t until Chanyeol nudged him that Sehun finally cleared his throat and spoke, albeit his voice sounded akin to a frog croaking.

  
“J-Jongin, Hi, uhm… how was your day?” The question was so mundane and awkward, it wasn’t even what Sehun was supposed to ask!

  
“ _Oh, well things have been good._ ” Jongin answered easily, not at all noticing Sehun’s weird tone. _“I was just about to have lunch actually, you called at a good time.”_

  
Sehun smiled. “Jongin, most people eat lunch at noon. I’d be surprised if you were still working even now.”

  
Jongin’s guilty chuckle was condemning enough. Sehun sighed, “You should take a break and look after yourself, working so much can’t be good for you.” He admonished gently, making Jongin chuckle softly and sheepishly this time.

  
“ _I will, I will. Geeze, you sound almost like Kyungsoo hyung.”_

  
Sehun felt the smile he had on slip off his face at the mention of the other man. “Is Kyungsoo staying with you?”

  
“ _Mmm, yeah. He finally agreed to make me a gazebo outback, so I can sit outside and have tea in the morning. I’ve been asking forever but one word from Junmyeon hyung and he agrees out of nowhere. Those two have been so weird around each other lately,”_ Jongin suddenly huffed, sounding about as irritated and threatening as a kitten trying to growl for the first time. Sehun breathed a sigh of immense relief, so Kyungsoo was _not_ moving in with his crush, good to know.

  
A harsh kick to his shin made Sehun hiss and glare at Luhan, who mouthed _ask him!_ Sehun stuck his tongue out at the thin fairy looking soccer player. Sehun cleared his throat, feeling his palms begin to sweat again. “Uh, Jongin?”

  
_“…Yeah?”_

  
“D-did you happen to get a-anything in the mail today?” Sehun stumbled over his words and he could practically feel Jongin raise his eyebrows in surprise.

  
“ _I did, how did you know?_ ” Jongin asked lightly. Sehun muttered something vague and asked Jongin what he thought of The Letter. “ _It was really strange, the letter was full of compliments, but there was no signature or return address. I think the sender wants to be friends though.”_

  
Sehun’s first thought was something along the lines of ‘ _Shit, I forgot to add my name!_ ’ then he realized that Jongin’s answer could have been anything from disgust and disproval to a gentle let down. However, he was not expecting him to think the letter was meant to be a _platonic_ confession!! Sehun even outright said he had feelings for Jongin in the letter, where was this confusion coming from!? Coughing lightly, Sehun asked Jongin what made him think the sender of the letter wanted to be friends.

  
_“The flower sent with the letter, I think it was a Bachelor’s Button. I know I haven’t had a boyfriend in a while, but am I really known for being forever single?”_ Jongin asked, sounding petulant.

  
Vaguely Sehun could hear Chanyeol cough meaningfully right next to him. Sehun really couldn’t recall what he said to Jongin before he ended the call, but as soon as the dead dial tone beeped from the other side, he slumped in his seat and let his forehead smack into the table.

  
“Hey man, you okay?” Chanyeol asked, followed by what were probably meant to be sympathetic head pats from Luhan or Baekhyun. Sehun honestly couldn’t tell whose fingers were skinnier, and aside from Chanyeol, Sehun’s two older friends were oddly girlish.

  
When he didn’t lift his head to answer, someone poked him. Sehun grunted and didn’t make a move to retaliate or throw back an insult the way he usually did. Baekhyun sighed, “I think he died.”

  
Luhan tugged a lock of his hair, exposing his scowling face. “Any last words Sehun?”

  
“… _Never_ trust a florist named _Ian_.”

 

 

☆✯☆

 

 

 

 

 

Google was a piece of work, Sehun concluded that night as he once again found himself scrolling through the internet. The next time Sehun saw the ad for the flower shop, he was gonna click on it and leave such a bad rating and scathing comment that no one would ever shop there again. Unfortunately for Sehun, he had run out of phone data just as he got an important email from one of his professors.

  
Groaning, Sehun dropped his phone on his bed and buried his face in his pillow. He wanted to give a frustrated scream, but his roommate was in and he really didn’t feel like explaining to the dude why he was screaming at nine pm.

  
‘ _Why is confessing so hard?’_ Sehun finally thought, rolling over and laying on his back when he almost suffocated. So far Sehun had put a lot of effort into telling Jongin how he felt, but the timing was off, or his hints were not received, and Sehun was starting to wonder if he had somehow been transported into one of those super cheesy drama’s his mother watched religiously every week.

  
Eventually Sehun managed to get out of bed and throw on a hoodie and some faded black converse. He wasn’t doing anything productive just rolling around in bed and lamenting life like some angsty teen, so he decided to get to the library and leech off their Wi-Fi. The hours were usually pretty extreme and it became a godsend for students staying up late to cram in the library. For some reason getting a card and checking out a book was too much effort, but using the equivalent of brain RAM wasn’t for a test the nest morning wasn’t.

  
Sehun stuffed his hands in his pockets and took the time to enjoy the walk outside. He usually wasn’t out this late, but he found himself reveling in the cool air and enjoying what little of the stars he could see in the heart of the city. Admittedly it wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing.

  
When he finally made it to the library, Sehun wasn’t too surprised to see a few people staring at their books, a six pack of Redbull at their side along with coffee and an insane amount of sugary snacks. Sehun winced at all the sleepless nights the students probably had and he was suddenly glad that he wasn’t a med student. Or a law student.

  
Shaking his head at the poor souls, Sehun trudged on to the back of the library, where the computer lab was located. It used to be in the front right next to the doors, but after some idiot stole a keyboard, the technology was moved and after nine, it was locked up and no one was allowed in. Absolutely no exceptions. Sehun had almost failed a paper once because he got caught up writing the rough draft in his notebook before sprinting to the computer lab.

  
The librarian was nodding off at her desk, the aid chatting up some freshman, so no one was really there to monitor the computers. It didn’t bother Sehun too much, and he went in to claim a seat. It took a while but he was finally logged in to his email account to see what his professor demanded this time.

  
“What the hell?” Sehun muttered when he read the email. An assignment that was due next week had a changed due date, and that was tomorrow. Sehun felt like yanking out his hair in exasperation. Why couldn’t the old geezer have stayed in the dinosaur age, back when he didn’t know how to use a damn computer, much less know what internet was!?

  
Grumbling to himself, Sehun clicked on the reply button and cracked his knuckles, getting ready to compose a scathingly passive-aggressive email. There was no way he was going to start on an essay from scratch the night before it was due-

  
“Sehun?” A voice called, startling the addressed male and making him slam his knee against the underside of the lab desk. Pain immediately radiated from his leg and Sehun cursed loudly.

  
“Oh my god, are you okay?” The familiar voice asked and through his haze of pain, Sehun found himself liking the sound of it- oh. The voice belonged to Jongin.

  
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Jongin apologized. He bit his full lower lip in worry and Sehun was sure that if his hands weren’t full of papers, then Jongin would be patting him down to make sure he would live.

  
“It’s fine,” Sehun managed to croak, even though he felt like shouting at the world for screwing with him too many times to count in one day. He just failed to confess via letter, and the universe decides to send Jongin here?! Someone had it in for him, especially since Jongin had to see him in a faded hoody with sweatpants and an unwashed face complete with hair going flat and sticky from the day’s gel. He looked so soft, and Sehun didn’t know how he managed to pull off _cute_ while appearing ready to fall in bed at any moment.

  
“What are you doing here though? I thought you were done with school.” Sehun teased, finding that even if he felt a little down after lunch, Jongin’s pretty face and thick frame glasses somehow soothed him.

  
Jongin sighed and he glanced down at the papers in his hands, too oblivious to notice the joke. “I misplaced some class copy worksheets for tomorrow and the school printer is out. Junmyeon let me use his card to make some more copies here though.” He looked better than he did last time and Sehun wondered if his workload was finally decreasing. It was nearing the end of spring, the kids would be getting out of school for summer break soon. Jongin then shook his head and looked at Sehun. “What are you doing here? I thought you would be out enjoying your free time since our lessons were canceled for the week.”

  
Sehun took a quick glance at the clock on the computer and was surprised to see that it was already a Thursday. “Wow the week went by fast,” He commented. “I was just checking up on some stuff for class. My history professor apparently wants to kill me.”

  
Jongin chuckled, “Is it Mr. Lee?”

  
Sehun nodded and sent Jongin an imitation of a sulky pout. “He can never make up his mind about deadlines.”

  
“Poor baby,” Jongin giggled, looking sweet and adorable with his eye-smile, glasses, and oversized pink sweatshirt. “Do you need a hug?”

  
Eagerly Sehun nodded and opened his arms, “Please Jonginnie?”

  
Jongin looked startled that his offer was taken seriously, but he smiled gently and put his papers on the desk next to Sehun before stepping into his arms. Sheun wasted no time wrapping his arms around Jongin’s waist and burying his face in his stomach. He sighed and closed his eyes, letting the disappointment of the day float away, along with his worries.

  
“Did you have a bad day?” Jongin asked, his tone smooth and calm even as he used his hands to card through Sehun’s bleached hair. When Sehun nodded, Jongin hummed in sympathy. “Well, even if you feel overwhelmed, I know you’ll be alright. You’re _really_ smart Sehun, don’t worry about failing a class, you never have and I don’t believe you _ever_ will.” Stress from school wasn’t the entire reason behind his bad day, but Jongin could think he failed an entire class and Sehun wouldn’t mind at all if it got him sympathy cuddles in return.

  
“Fighting Seuhunnie!” Jongin eagerly enthused, making Sehun laugh a little in amusement. Jongin was beyond endearing and hearing encouragement from him made Sehun grin, the praise swelling in his heat and warming him from the inside out. “Thank you.”

  
Jongin chuckled and tugged on Sehun’s ear in fake warning, “Why are you thanking me? I haven’t done anything to help, Sehunnie.”

  
Sehun’s traitorous mind didn’t bother to filter his mouth.

  
“Just being around you helps Jongin, you’re my heart _and_ soul.”

 

 

☆✯☆

 

 

Sehun was in a daze when he managed to run down his door and take refuge in his dorm. His face was probably a cherry red and he was sure that his wide eyes made him look crazed. He cannot believe he just told—

  
“Hey, uh… this is not what it looks like?” Sehun heard the voice coming from his roommate’s side of the room and he almost screamed when he saw a shadow sitting on the usually empty bed. “Woah, chill.” The calm voice replied lazily and a lamp was flicked on. Sehun slumped against the door and clutched his head. It was just Yixing.

  
Wait. Why the hell was the uptight dude kissing a glass fish, and why did it smell like some kind of musky plant in the dorm?

  
Yixing pulled away from the fish and when he exhaled, a large plume of smoke rose in the air. “Okay never mind, this is totally what it looks like,” Yixing finished with a chuckle, his eyes half lidded and suspiciously red.

  
Sehun blinked. “I thought you were part of the campus police?”

  
“Yup.” Yixing nodded and brought a lighter to the fish’s belly, where there was a little dip, filled with something that looked halfway burnt. Sehun didn’t completely notice it before, but the fish was upside down and Yixing was actually using the tail to smoke. “ _No_ _one_ suspects the police.” Yixing added, once he finished exhaling through his nose.

  
He looked completely relaxed and Sehun realized that the man was probably high. That would explain why he looked so weird whenever Sehun came back early or just didn’t inform Yixing of when he was bringing over company. He was just trying to keep a poker face on, and Sehun mistook his expression for disapproval. “Isn’t that illegal?” Sehun finally settled for asking, striding to his bed and flopping against the twin mattress with a grunt. His back hurt in this position but his head hurt more and he really needed to close his eyes.

  
The flick of a lighter echoed in the room and Yixing sounded a little choked for air when he answered again. “Not in Colorado little angry bird.”

  
Sehun frowned, “What’d you call me?”

  
“Angry bird. You and that Yifan guy have eyebrows that match big red.” Yixing answered. Sehun wasn’t even sure anyone played the game anymore, it had died along with its evil spawn Flappy Bird. “ _The fat bastard can’t even fly that far, but okay_.” Yixing muttered after another hit of his fish pipe. Sehun chose to ignore that comment, and instead settled for rolling over and trying to burrow into his bed until winter. It was quiet enough that Sehun soon relaxed, the darkness of sleep quickly upon him because he was too tired to overthink.

  
“So what were you doing out so late anyway? And why did you walk back in like you were running from something?” Yixing asked, making Sehun open his eyes and scowl, sleep slipping from his grasp.

  
“I was out late cursing out a professor through obscure email use, then I ran into my crush of four years and almost copped a feel before I opened my big fat mouth and said something I shouldn’t have.” Sehun spat out, irritated and feeling the effect of his patience snapping.

  
Yixing, to his credit, stayed absolutely calm. “Sounds tough birdie.”

  
“I _know_.” Sehun groaned, ignoring the nickname because he had no energy left to even properly offended.

  
“If you already said something, why don’t you just confess?” Yixing asked and Sehun muttered a glum “ _I tried._ ”

  
Yixing made another exaggerated inhale and exhale and the room was starting to get foggy. “How about you do this, use your crush’s interests against them?”

  
Sehun indulged the man and asked what he meant. Yixing explained his idea for confessing based on how someone approached him. It ultimately didn’t work on him because the only way to his heart was through weed, but the aside from a few people, no one knew Yixing was a closet smoker. After listening, Sehun thought it was ingenious, it sounded foolproof and Sehun finally felt as if things were beginning to look positive. He actually felt hopeful.

 

 

☆✯☆

 

 

It had been two weeks.

  
That was fourteen days and _168 hours_ since Jongin had last seen Sehun. At this point, there was nothing more he could do other than fret. Sehun usually answered his calls or his silly texts with an indulgent emoji or a comment, but Jongin had seen and heard _absolutely_ _nothing_ from him. If it weren’t for Junmyeon giving him updates, Jongin would have called the police to file a missing person’s report.

  
It took a while, but soon Jongin realized that Sehun had been avoiding him, and after wracking his brain for anything he could have done wrong Jongin figured it must have been something to do with what he had said the last night they saw one another.

  
“ _Just being around you helps Jongin, you’re my heart_ and _soul.”_

  
The words stirred something within Jongin, it made him flustered and warm inside. It happened whenever he thought of the sincere tone of Sehun’s voice, his hushed words were spoken like a confession and the intimate vulnerable quality of the younger man’s voice somehow made Jongin want to blush. The fact that Sehun referred to him using his first name also may have had a part in this new sensation to invade Jongin’s heart night and day.

  
Jongin was started out of his thoughts when his doorbell rang. The loud cheery bells echoing in his house almost made him fall out of his seat and knock over his tea. Jongin sheepishly calmed himself and moved his mug away from the edge of the table, knowing all too well that his bad habit had caused more broken mugs and spilled liquids than he could remember.

  
The bell rang again and Jongin hurried to stand up. “I’m coming!” Jongin shouted in reply when the ringing didn’t stop. It was unusual for someone to be so impatient at this time of night.

  
Wincing at the racket the doorbell was creating, Jongin opened the door, only to blink in surprise when no one was there to greet him. “Damn it, I should have believed Kyungsoo hyung when he said—”

  
“Woof!” A heavy bark drew Jongin’s eyes down and he almost felt his heart burst when a Shiba Inu stared back at him, fluffy tail curled in a _C_ shape behind him and a pink tongue lolling out of a smiling mouth.

  
“Oh my gosh, you’re so cute!!” Jongin cooed, immediately crouching and petting the canine, who was all too happy to jump on his lap and attack him with affectionate licks. Jongin giggled and pet the dog, hugging him close and wondering how the Hachigo look-alike arrived in his neighborhood, and at night no less.

  
“Hey pup, where’s your owner?” Jongin managed to ask once he and the dog both calmed down some. The white Shiba looked nothing like a stray, his coat was soft and clean, and he had a collar on but no tag.

  
“ _Woof, woof!”_ The dog answered with barks, making Jongin smile even if he couldn’t understand him. “It’s alright if you’re lost, I can call the shelter and see if they have any missing pets reported.” Jongin replied, ruffling the dog’s fur one more time before standing up and dusting off his jeans. He was trying to remember the number of the pet shelter when the dog barked at him and bounded toward the sidewalk. Jongin stared at him in surprise, only for the dog to bark at him again and point his muzzle down the street.

  
“Y-you want me to follow?” Jongin asked, only receiving a bark before the dog was running off down the street. Surprised, Jongin called out for the dog to wait so he could catch up to him. However, every time Jongin got so much as a foot away from the dog, the canine would wag his tail and bound off further down the street. Much to his dismay, this happened a few more times and he was panting by the time he finally caught up with the dog. He had been chasing him for a few blocks now and the mischievous canine had finally stopped.

  
He was sitting at the corner of the street, tongue lolling out of his mouth again, the equivalent of a doggy grin filling his face. He was too cute to be mad at but Jongin still pouted at him. “You could have waited for me!”

  
The dog barked and he pushed something toward Jongin with one paw. The human glanced at the dog in surprise, but the canine was still sitting obediently before him, curled tail wagging slightly from side to side. ‘ _You’re lucky you’re cute_ ,' Jongin thought as he bent down to pick up the object. He noted that it was a bit of red paper, nearly folded into a heart. Jongin flipped it over and wondered if he was supposed to unfold it when he caught sight of a vaguely familiar cursive scrawl.

  
_Kim Jongin, your smile never fails to brighten my day._

  
The compliment made Jongin unconsciously grin, silently wondering who wrote the note and put a dog up to the task of leading him to it. Pocketing the red heart, Jongin looked at the dog. “Did you fake being lost?” He asked.

  
Hachigo 2 looked at him and barked, only to turn and run down the rest of the street. Jongin sighed fondly and followed the dog, he didn’t know what he was doing but he did kind of want to see if there was another note left for him. The sender had caught his attention with their eye to detail and their dedication, training a dog to do this must have taken time.

  
The second note was inside Hachigo's mouth and Jongin had to gently pry it out. It wasn’t too damaged, but one end of the heart was torn and probably being digested at the moment. The dog seemed unfazed at not being able to eat the paper heart, a happy little grin sticking to his cute face.

  
_Kim Jongin, your eyes light the night and outshine the sun in the day._

  
‘ _Aww, how sweet!_ ’ Jongin thought, letting the compliment warm his heart and his cheeks. He felt so flattered that someone would do all this just for him, the boring elementary school teacher who had a passion for books, kids, and animals.

  
Hachigo 2 barked again and this time, Jongin followed him with an eager smile, his eyes on the sidewalk and looking for another note. It took longer to find this note because the dog kept stopping to play with Jongin, who helplessly indulged him.

  
_Kim Jongin, your heart is big enough for the whole world, may I be included in it as well?_

  
The question was unnecessary, despite never seeing this person or knowing who they were, Jongin already felt appreciated and loved. He would definitely give such a person a date or two.

  
“ _Woof, woof!_ ” Hachigo 2 barked and Jongin glanced away from the note to see him sitting in place. He wasn’t smiling this time, but he was tilting his head at Jongin and looking toward the left. Curiously, Jongin looked up in the same direction and he felt the need to gape.

  
Lights were hung in the trees of the park Jongin hadn’t realized he chased the dog to, and it lit up the path leading to the gazebo in front of the pond. It was a beautiful sight, but what had Jongin stopping in surprise was the fact that his student, Sehun was standing in front of the gazebo, his hair styled messily out of his face, a tuxedo on and a bouquet of red roses in his hands.

  
Sehun looked handsome, and when he glanced at Jongin, the older male unconsciously took a step forward until he was soon standing before him.

  
“Sehun, w-what is all this for…?” Jongin asked hesitantly. Up close Sehun was even more breathtaking and Jongin was fighting to keep his expression neutral, though he could feel a familiar heat crawl up his cheeks. He had not noticed too much over the years, but Sehun had grown taller than him, and with the way his suit was cut, Jongin couldn’t help but notice that his shoulders had broadened as well.

  
While he wasn’t paying attention, Sehun had changed from a gangly teen to a confident man.

  
“Jongin,” Sehun said and the deepness of his voice was enough to draw Jongin out of his thoughts. “I-I uhh…Oh wait, these are for you…” He gave the flowers to Jongin, and the tutor blinked before he smiled and accepted them.

  
“Thank you, these are lovely,” Jongin held the bouquet gently and took a small sniff of the glorious red blooms. Red roses were his favorite, even if he had only ever seen them in shops or when others received them on Valentine’s Day.

  
“You’re welcome,” Sehun replied automatically, a soft grin on his face and a dazed look in his eyes when Jongin looked up at him again. In some part of his mind, Jongin wondered what that look meant, it was familiar to him because Sehun had the same expression on his face whenever he caught him staring.

  
“Is there a reason all this is here?” Jongin prompted again. His eyes darting from the lights hanging in the trees of the park to the tea lights floating in the pond. He was almost sure he could see some rose petals floating in there as well, but he couldn’t clearly see in the low light. Based on the meaning of roses… no, no it wasn’t polite to make assumptions.

  
“R-right,” Sehun shook himself, clearing his throat lightly and based on the red on his cheeks, Jongin’s mind began jumping to conclusions despite himself. Was Sehun here because he actually wanted to tell Jongin that he maybe… _liked_ him?

  
“Jongin, you are one of my closest friends,” Sehun finally said and Jongin tried to keep down his feelings of disappointment. Wait, why was he disappointed at all!?!

  
“-and through the years I have appreciated getting to know you.” Sehun’s dark eyes were reflecting the candles and strung up lights from the park and Jongin was almost distracted. In his eyes, they looked like stars on a night canvas. “When I wake up every day, the first thing I do is check my phone to see if you sent me a message over the night, and when you do, I laugh and smile and feel happy the entire day.” The admission had Jongin stilling and his breath hitching. No one had ever been that happy to text him, or even to talk to him before. Catching Jongin’s wide eyes, Sehun smiled reassuringly and continued speaking. “I like spending time with you, even outside of our lessons because I like the way you see the world, I like that you can’t tear yourself away from a good book even at the cost of your sleep, and I like the way you take care of others before yourself.”

  
Taking a deep breath, Sehun tentatively reached out toward Jongin and lightly caressed his cheek with a thumb. “T-there’s a lot more I want to say, and one of them is this… Kim Jongin I like you, will you please be my b-boyfriend?”

  
A gasp escaped his lips unconsciously and Jongin quickly covered his mouth with his hand, not knowing where to look. Sehun…Sehun was his student, he was _five_ years younger and Jongin was closer to him than anyone else he knew, but this was unexpected. A passing moth brought Jongin’s eyes to the lights strung around the gazebo and a faint crinkling from the wrapped bouquet in his hands had Jongin actually stopping and thinking. This was unexpected, but Sehun had put some thought into this, and admittedly, Jongin liked it.

  
When Jongin braved a glance up, Sehun was still looking at him with soft eyes, though he was biting his lips in nervousness now. That look alone made Jongin’s heart speed up and a low simmer of warmth start in his chest. The dog bumped into Jongin’s calf with a wet nose and Jongin caught himself before he stumbled into Sehun, however his answer was startled out of him.

  
“Y-yes! I’ll be your boyfriend!!” Jongin finally blurted out, making Sehun freeze. The other male looked incredulous for a moment before long arms were wrapping around him and Jongin felt his feet lift off the ground. “ _Ohmygodthankyou_!!” Sehun shouted and he twirled around with a surprised but giggly Jongin in his arms before he planted his feet back on the ground. Sehun never once let go of Jongin and he was now nuzzling into Jongin’s neck, his smile wide and genuine.

  
Jongin, feeling giddy at the sudden hug and the thoughtful confession, bravely stepped onto the tip of his toes and pressed a kiss to the edge of Sehun’s jaw. The younger man froze again, but when Jongin pulled away in worry, he saw the cherry color of Sehun’s face.

  
“You’re _so_ cute Sehunnie,” Jongin giggled, giving in to the urge to pinch Sehun’s cheek the way he did when he was still in college and Sehun in high school.

  
“No I’m not,” Sehun replied immediately, his blush spreading to the tips of his ears. When Jongin cooed at him in response, Sehun grabbed his hands and placed them around his neck, his own hands moving to a slim waist. The slight movement drew Jongin and Sehun closer and when the tutor blushed and gave an involuntary squeak at how close their faces were, Sehun’s smirk grew and his tone became teasing.

  
“No who’s the cute one, _Jonginnie_?” Sehun replied.

  
Flustered, Jongin averted his eyes and curled his hands into fists, only to end up unconsciously playing with the baby hairs at the back of Sehun’s nape. A rumble came from Sehun and Jongin buried his face in the younger’s chest when he realized the man was laughing at him.

  
“Stop teasing me!” Jongin tried to grumble, only for his words to form a whine. Sehun laughed again, but before Jongin could curl in on himself, he grasped the tutor’s chin in his hand and tilted his head up.

  
“Algirht, I’ll stop teasing the both of us now,” Jongin was getting lost in dark eyes again, and it should have been more off-putting that someone he had considered nothing more than a friend just a few days ago was this close to him, but it felt natural when Sehun leaned down. Jongin’s eyes slipped shut, his head titling up and a sigh escaping him when he felt Sehun’s lips brush against his own—

 

“ _WOOF!!_ ” Hachigo 2 barked and Jongin jumped in surprise, his head bumping into Sehun’s and breaking the moment. Sehun groaned in pain and annoyance, and even though Jongin was now holding the top of his head in pain, he couldn’t help but giggle at the situation.

  
“I think he wants some attention,” Jongin finally breathed out, patting Sehun on the shoulder in consolation when he glared at the dog, a pout on his pink lips. Even if he found things funny, Jongin couldn’t help but feel just a little disappointed that they were interrupted as well.

  
Hachigo 2 looked absolutely unapologetic as he laid on his back and accepted belly scratches from Jongin, who was babying him and calling him a “ _sweet little cutie._ ”

  
Sehun scowled at the dog for stealing his new boyfriend.

 

 

  
(Sehun didn’t know that Jongin could see him sulking in the reflection of the water, curtesy of a tea light floating by. It was adorable and Jongin couldn’t believe that he didn’t see Sehun as boyfriend material until now.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
